Page 21 - Conversation 3

Feifei
Well, good examples. Thanks for sharing, Neil. Here are some more examples of people using
'peaks and troughs'.

Examples
My boyfriend is self-employed, and he doesn't have any work at the moment, but it's peaks and
troughs. Something'll come up soon.

I went to a play the other day and it was all right. I liked some of it. There were real peaks and
troughs.

I went to an amazing restaurant in London the other day, but it was really expensive and it took
me ages to get there. But that's living in London. It's peaks and troughs.

Neil
So, we have lots of different ways, actually, to describe the ups and downs of life. We have ups
and downs, highs and lows, ebb and flow. That's a good one. It's about the ocean tides and how
they come in and out. But what kind of situations can we use 'peaks and troughs' in, Feifei? Is it
flexible?

Feifei
It is actually, as we've seen in the examples. It can be used to talk about everyday life, but you
can also use it in any situation where there are highs and lows. So, for example, if we worked in
a field like economics and we probably will use a graph with a line going up and down to
monitor the financial market or, for example, if you're a doctor, you might monitor your patient's
glucose levels on a graph, seeing it going up and down.

Neil
Yeah. That's right. So, to recap, we've learned the phrase 'peaks and troughs', which we can use
when we talk about the high and the low points in life.

Feifei
We'll be back next week with another useful English phrase. See you next time!

Neil
Goodbye!